Encouraging Connection
Love the burn of barre but hate the early mornings? We hear you! We’ve added a special 4-week installment of barre on Thursday afternoons in June. Join us at 4 PM for an added offering of our signature barre classes, well after the sun has risen.
Drop into a single class for $16 or register for the whole 4-week series for $49.
Our Unlimited Members are free for this series!
Given my line of work, that I daily deal with bodies and minds, I continue to be enthralled by the research that tells us so much more about how they work. The nature vs. nurture debate has been endlessly fascinating, and depending on what I’m reading or who I’m listening to at the moment, I can easily find a home on either side of the equation (which, TBH, is right where I want to be).
My training in yoga for the classroom was by an Occupational Therapist who was working in classrooms with all types of students and first introduced me to the role of our biology in our brain-based endeavors. It’s where I first learned about stress and the effects of hormones. She would say that before we can open the minds of children for learning we must create a container that is ready to receive it. She worked with children, but it’s true of all humans.
What we know is true by experience is being proven by science: we behave in ways influenced by our experience of being in bodies. There are now scads of studies that people will behave differently (make harsher judgments, etc) based on their environment – if there’s a putrid smell in the room, for example. And then there’s the hormones – not just at the time of their development (need I remind you that I’m raising 3 teenagers right now?) but how our brains’ receptors to those hormones are formed early in their bodily experience. (See Dr. Bruce Perry in What Happened to You? for some big insights to how our earliest days shape our entire existence).
The hopeful part of this research is the neuroplasticity – our ability to rewire our brains, which has much to do with the behaviors we practice. (Remember how I wrote back-to-back newsletters about how change can begin with either behavior or belief? Opportunity has so. many. doors.)
Specifically with young people, the part of our brain that helps us make decisions is wide open to suggestion until the mid-twenties. Parents around the world both love and hate this age of opportunity – on the one hand, teens just don’t have the wiring for quick, easy, wise decisions. On the other hand, they’re not done yet. Then again, neither are us 40-somethings or even 80-somethings. Come to a chair yoga class and WITNESS.
If this is the brain region central to doing the right thing when it’s the harder thing to do no genes can specify what counts as the right thing. It has to be learned the long, hard way, by experience.
-Robert M. Sapolsky
So what do we DO with this? If it’s in our wiring and our biology, are we just done? That’s a hard NO for me. Because our biology is shaped by our environment. And guess what?
We are the environment.
I always strive be a loving container for my kids to grow up with safety and acceptance always available – that our home allows them to be their whole self. But one of my biggest goals as a parent has been to put my kids in places where there are other adults who love them, provide them safety and freedom of expression, because our community is part of their container. Our interactions with one other create the biological wiring that help us to decide these questions of right and wrong. When my kids shop here, work here, get cheered on and off the field/court here it changes who they are at the cellular level.
If you think your yoga practice is just about that zen feeling you get post-savasana, I’m thrilled you love your experience. But it doesn’t stop there. When you change your container by lessening stress hormones, expanding your window of tolerance for mental and emotional stress, and practice setting intentions for your day, you then go out into the world and shape the containers of the people you encounter. Whether you asked for this role or not, we’ve been born into bodies of social creatures and we now take our place in shaping the world where we want to live.
So let’s do it, friends. Show up, Work hard, Shine bright, Love all. Create the world you want to live in.
Celebrate the long days of the year with a soothing Summer Solstice Restorative Yoga session. This special class is designed to honor the light of the sun and the energy of the summer season, helping you to relax, rejuvenate, and restore your body and mind.
Join us for a deeply relaxing and meditative practice that incorporates gentle restorative yoga poses, breathwork, and guided meditation. The Summer Solstice marks a time of peak energy and growth, and this class aims to balance that vibrancy with calm and introspection. Each pose will be held for an extended period, supported by props such as bolsters, blankets, and blocks, allowing for complete release and surrender.
Class Benefits:
*Deep relaxation and stress relief
*Enhanced flexibility and joint mobility
*Improved mental clarity and focus
*Emotional balance and a sense of inner peace
*Opportunity to set personal intentions aligned with the energy of the solstice
Members receive 20% off the registration price
Wednesdays, 5:45 PM with Melissa Summit
Ready to turn up your Metabolic Strength? Using body weight movements, dumbbells, and resistance bands, we will develop strong muscles (& bones & mental fortitude) with this time-based 40-45 minute workout. While it is adaptable to all ages and abilities, you should be comfortable with, or willing to work toward basic body weight movements (squats, lunges, planks, pushups) with plenty of regressions and progressions to suit all fitness levels. Working for time periods of :20-:90 seconds will give you the sweaty, metabolic boost that your body craves!
This class is included with Unlimited and Flexible Memberships and 5-class passes will apply. Drop in for $9 or get a 5-class pass specifically for Express classes for $40 (one-year expiration).
Through a blend of playful poses, breathing exercises, mindfulness activities, and relaxation techniques, kids will develop strength, flexibility, balance, and coordination—all while having loads of fun! Whether they’re pretending to be soaring eagles, stretching like playful cats, or finding their inner calm like peaceful warriors, children will discover the joy of movement and the power of mindfulness in each class.
Our kid-friendly yoga sessions also emphasize important life skills such as focus, concentration, self-awareness, and emotional regulation. By engaging in yoga practices tailored to their age group, children will learn valuable tools to manage stress, build confidence, and foster a positive mindset that they can carry with them both on and off the mat.
Open to students in grades 3-5, each class will be 45 minutes of parent-free discovery.
Traci, our professional educator and certified yoga instructor will integrate stress management components into our kid’s yoga class, to empower children with valuable tools to navigate test-taking situations with greater confidence, focus, and resilience. Together, we can support them in cultivating a positive mindset and holistic well-being that extends far beyond the classroom.
Pre-registration for each child is required via the fitDegree app.
Calm the mind and relax your nervous system. This Class will be a slow pace, restorative-focused, meditative experience. The center of the class will be to completely zen the mind and relax and rebuild our bodies.
The benefits of restorative yoga include: reduced chronic pain, soothing the nervous system and an improvement in sleep quality.
Your body does so much for you: gift yourself some inner peace with an hour of deep tranquility midweek.
Series registration: $45 or drop in for $12 per class.
Get a pass for 5 strength-centered classes (Barre, Barre Express, Early Bird Barre, Senior Strength) for just $50! This is a fantastic way to jump into our classes focused on building overall muscle tone to support joint and nervous system health. Pass expires 120 days from purchase.
Would you like to learn more about your unique path that started when you were born and continues today?
You could say it is partially “written in the stars.”
Come learn about how the position of the stars in the sky at the exact time that you were make up your unique astrology.
In this course you will learn about a brief overview of astrology and how to determine your sun, moon and ascendant signs. Please bring with you the exact date, TIME and location of your birth. The morning will be interactive, informative and entertaining. You will walk away with an increased understanding of what naturally makes you tick.
This course is taught by Miranda Inglis a local Woven member. She has studied astrology for many years and continues to be amazed by all there is to learn from it.
Investment: $39 (Unlimited members: 20% discount at checkout)
Pelvic floor. What is it and why is it important? Bethany Parsell MSN, APRN, CNP, CUNP is board certified in family medicine and urology. She is a pelvic floor therapist working with women and men of all ages to improve their pelvic health. Bethany has helped hundreds of patients gain control over their pelvic floor. She will explain what muscles make up the pelvic floor. She will explain lifestyle factors and changes that affect the pelvic floor. She will leave you with practical information and tools on how to strengthen your pelvic floor.
The $10 registration fee for this class will go to The Cocoon, a domestic violence and sexual assault resource for victims, based in Bowling Green. More information about this organization is available at www.thecocoon.org.
How are those New Year’s resolutions/intentions/changes/improvements coming?
January 1 is a fun and traditional time to reorient yourself to new hopes, but lasting and fulfilling change comes from aligning it with what you value most.
Certified leadership coach Kate Wingfield is joining us at 10am on Sunday, January 22 to lead us through the process of honing in on what we want most from life and then bringing us into awareness of places we might not be aligning with those values.
This workshop will feature personal reflection through hands-on activity and group discussion. Even better, once you leave inspired to make changes, you walk away with a free 1:1 consult with Kate so you can begin to put a plan together to see that vision become reality.
Sign up now. Your future self will thank you.
